Essay Preview: Cwv 101 - Gospel Essentials Essay

A worldview is constructed on how we see and interact with the world around us. We base many things on our personal worldviews, such as how we treat others and how we decide to live our lives. There are many different worldviews such as Atheism, Judaism. Buddhism, Muslim, and Christianity. Within each of these main worldviews there are many other worldviews as sometimes people have different thoughts and beliefs about certain things in their religion. Everyone has their own private worldviews with values and beliefs that have been shaped by culture, education, experiences, and relationships (“Lecture 1”, 2017). For this essay we are going to focus on Christianity, what their worldview is based on and how they live their lives because of it. This essay will also include an analysis of the Christian worldview and a personal reflection based on the Christian worldview. The fundamentals of the Christian worldview consist of one’s beliefs and opinions about God, Humanity, Jesus, and Restoration.

God

Who is God? This question is one that is often hard to answer as he is much more and bigger than every aspect and sense of the world. To Christians, God is the creator of all things. God created heaven and the earth and everything that it includes. He did so in six days. Genesis 1 presents God as the creator and ruler over everything. However, God is much more than just that. Although Christians believe that there is only one God, they also believe that God exists as three persons. These persons represent the trinity which includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God himself has many characteristics, all of them good and flawless. God is good, loving, just, almighty, compassionate, wise, faithful, and holy (Diffey, 2015). God is also love and perfection. In the bible it states that we must be perfect, because our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48 ESV). To Christians God is their Lord and Savior and much of everything they do is in refection to him and his teachings.

Humanity

Human nature relates to questions about what it means to be human or a part of humanity. According to the Christian worldview, mankind was created by God and in the image of God. God created us to rule over his creation, the world, and to serve him in any way. It is revealed that it is human nature to obey God and do what is told (Diffey, 2015). God not only created us to love and communicate with him but also to follow and obey him. The cause of all of humanity’s problems are a result of sin and disobeying God. From the beginning when God created Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden, we have sinned against him. When God placed Adam and Eve into the Garden of Eden, he gave them complete freedom under one condition, to not eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Even after being tricked by a serpent ate an apple of the tree and disobeyed God’s trust. God then punished Adam and Eve and the rest of humanity as a result of their sins. God told the woman that he will multiply her pain in childbearing. He also told her that her desire will be for her husband and that he will rule over her. God told the man, Adam that because he listened to the voice of his wife and ate from the forbidden tree that he cursed the ground making it difficult and painful for Adam to get food to eat. God punished Adam with pain, labor, and having to work hard for things he needs such as food (Genesis 3:16-19). Adam and Eve’s sin is the reason for all the pain and suffering in the world.

Jesus

Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. Jesus placed on earth and given to us as man to teach the word of God to others. Jesus healed people who were sick, fed the hungry, and performed miracles such as forgiving sins. One example of Jesus healing others is when he made a blind man see again. A man told people that Jesus made mud and put it on his eyes. He then instructed him to go to Siloam and wash the mud off. After he did so he was no longer blind and could now see (John 9:11). Jesus also gave his life for all mankind so that they would be saved. He was then resurrected as a symbol of redemption and forgiveness for our sins. Without the resurrection Jesus's message would not have formed (Simpson, 2015). The resurrection of Jesus is a huge pivotal moment in the Bible for Christians. It is the moment where all their previous sins had been forgiven as Jesus sacrificed himself to be crucified in the name of our sins. When he was brought back to life it meant that our sins could be forgiven through trust, faith, and through God and Jesus himself.

Restoration

According to the Christian worldview, the solution to human problems is salvation through Jesus. The Christian view of salvation also focuses on the idea that we must have faith in order to be saved. We cannot attain salvation through good deeds as that is not enough to get us into Heaven. One must have faith as that is the only salvation. God's plan is to restore people to himself so that they can be fully reconciled to a right relationship that was severed due to sin (“Lecture 5”, 2017). God wants us all to be restored and reunited with him however, the only way he will accept us is through faith and Jesus himself. Jesus states that he is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father unless it is through him (John 14:6). Once we become saved through Jesus himself and become more spiritually enhanced, we not only become a better person but must use our worldview to help the rest of the world. This is the path to restoration according to the Christian worldview.

Analysis

A Christian worldview offers many things such as solutions, guidance, guidelines, faith, and hope. Christians hope for an eternal life with the Lord and the faith that this will happen if we believe, follow, worship, and continue God’s work. Some benefits of Christian beliefs is believing that there will be forgiveness and freedom in the end. Through faith Christians are forgiven of their sins and allowed freedom in heaven. Those who live by the Christian way have been able to learn how to exercise control over one’s own future and that of others. (Schwarz, 2006). A benefit of following a Christian worldview is having a sense of control through one’s faith in God. One thing that is sometimes troublesome about Christianity is that people often use their beliefs to benefit themselves instead of others. Some people focus only on themselves and how they can be accepted by God instead of how they can help others as God would want them to. Christianity influences a person’s thinking and behavior as they want to do good and follow in God’s footsteps. Christians often live their lives through God and how they believe God would want them to live their lives. Christianity also influences people thinking and behavior as they try to do good, not sin, and have faith as they believe that is what is needed to be accepted.